Feminine care products, such as tampons and pessaries, are generally used by women within the vagina for feminine needs, such as, e.g., to absorb menstrual or other body exudates, for pelvic support, and/or for other feminine needs. Such feminine products can be inserted into the vagina digitally, such as, e.g., by using a finger, or can be inserted into the vagina by using an applicator.
Applicators typically can comprise an applicator tube and a plunger. The material to be expelled from the applicator tube, such as an absorbent tampon or pessary, can be positioned within the insertion member. The insertion member can have a first end for insertion of the material and a second end for receipt of the plunger. To use the applicator, the consumer will grasp the insertion member, position the first end appropriately, such as, e.g., into the body, and move the plunger in the insertion member towards the first end to insert the material. Some applicators can also include a finger grip configuration that is located on the insertion member, which can allow the consumer to more securely hold the applicator during insertion of a material into the body cavity. Various finger grip configurations have been utilized to facilitate the handling of the applicator and to improve the insertion experience.
One finger grip configuration that can be useful is one having raised portions that circumscribe the applicator. For instance the applicator may have one circumscribing ring that is disposed generally perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the applicator about the entire circumference of the applicator. Other raised portions may be parts of rings that partially circumscribe the applicator and are generally perpendicular with the longitudinal axis of the applicator.
Such an arrangement can be difficult to manufacture using a rotary process that employs a mandrel and die if there are both a raised portion that completely circumscribes the tampon applicator and raised portions that partially circumscribe the tampon applicator that are disposed close to one another along a common circumference. The difficulty arises because to form the raised portion that completely circumscribes the tampon applicator, the die and forming mandrel must move relative to one another at least a distance equal to the outer circumference of the applicator tube. To ensure a well formed raised portion that a consumer will be unable to identify where on the applicator tube the forming mandrel and die first engaged with one another, the forming mandrel and die should move relative to one another a distance slightly greater that the outer circumference of the applicator tube. Such an approach results in a slightly over formed raised portion in which a small portion of the circumference of the applicator is impressed twice. Ideally, the portion of the applicator that is formed twice is not detectable by the consumer, which should be an aesthetically pleasing result.
Over forming the applicator in such a manner can result in malformation of partially circumscribing raised portions that are disposed close to one another along a common circumference. The malformation can be that some raised portions are longer than others or incomplete raised portions may be formed. Furthermore, if multiple equal length partially circumscribing raised portions disposed about a common circumference wherein the raised portions are separated from one another by a distance less than the magnitude of over forming desired to meet aesthetic constraints, over forming may not be a viable approach to form the applicator.
With these limitations in mind, there is a continuing unaddressed need for a method for forming a vaginal applicator that permits over forming a continuous raised portion about a circumference of the applicator yet still can produce an applicator having intermittent raised portions disposed close to one another along a common circumference.